


Suffer in Peace

by Daydreaming_Angel



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 08:42:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10963698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daydreaming_Angel/pseuds/Daydreaming_Angel
Summary: Rose has questions.





	Suffer in Peace

**Author's Note:**

> I've always wondered how Rose felt when the Doctor accused his meta-crisis of committing genocide- it really wasn't that different from what Rose did when she looked into the TARDIS.   
> The song title comes from a Tyler Farr song, but it really has nothing to do with this other than the fact I liked it for a title.  
> And hey, look. Happy ending. I may add more because I feel like it's abrupt, but that's all for now.   
> Disclaimer: Own nothing. BBC owns Doctor Who. Oh, and Warner Bros owns the Bugs Bunny reference above.

He had been in Pete’s World for six days. In those six days, Rose didn’t utter a single word. She simply watched him, a distance in her warm eyes that had never been there before. Unable to bear the silence, the Doctor had taken to exploring her home. Going through every corner, trying to find something that would tell him about the woman he once traveled with. The woman he loved.

The living room was his favorite. One wall was entirely made of windows, he could sit in the armchair and watch the world around him. This is what he was doing on the sixth evening in Pete’s – my world he corrected himself mentally. The sky was clear- the weather in this world being much more amiable- and the full moon lit up the room without the need for artificial light. 

When Rose entered the living room it was apparent she did not see him. That, or she was simply refusing to acknowledge his existence. The Doctor felt a tightening in his gut at the thought. He observed her, standing with her forehead against the coolness of the window, her arms crossed protectively across her chest. 

“You’re him, right?” her voice was hoarse from disuse, but he treasured the sound. 

“Yes,” he responded simply, wondering where this conversation was going. 

“Then you agree with him.” 

“On what?” The Doctor had no idea what she was talking about, but could hear the hurt in her voice. 

“That I’m a murderer.” She said it simply, her voice cold as if she spoke of someone else. 

“What?” The Doctor shot up violently from his chair, causing her to start and turn to look at him. He couldn’t see her eyes in the dark, but he knew they were trained on him. “Why would you say something like that?” 

She shrugged her shoulders slightly, and he could tell by her body language she was looking at the floor. Slowly, he walked towards her. Placing his fingers under her chin he forced her to look up at him, his heart breaking at the tears in her eyes. 

“He said,” her voice cracked “he said that you committed genocide. That you were dangerous. How is that different from what I did to save you? The things I did to get back to you.” 

“Oh, Rose,” he sighed, drawing her into his arms. She stood there stiffly for a moment, before her arms slipped around his waist and she buried her face in his chest. After a few moments, he pulled back slightly, placing his hands on either side of her face. “It’s not that simple,” the Doctor sighed. “Everything you did was out of love. What I did was out of anger.” Returning to his spot in the armchair, he pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her waist. She nuzzled her head into his neck, breathing deeply. 

He held her tightly as he began speaking. “I didn’t give them another chance. I was controlled by my emotions, by my anger that they would threaten everyone I loved.” His hands idly rubbed her back as he continued to speak. “I’m a human with a Time Lord brain. Or a Time Lord with a human body depending on perspective,” Rose could sense he was about to go off on a tangent and tightened her grip, bringing him back to the conversation at hand. “The point is, without you to anchor me, I’m dangerous.” He maneuvered so that she stayed firmly in his lap, but was able to look into her eyes. Taking a deep breath he continued, “but I don’t want you to stay with me out of obligation,” she opened her mouth to speak and he placed a finger over her lips silencing her. “If you can’t, or simply don’t want to be with me I can go someplace else. I can find somewhere to be alone, where I can’t hurt anyone else. Hermits United.” He smirked slightly. 

Before he could utter another word, Rose threw her arms around him holding him close. “I fought too hard to get you back to ever let you go,” she whispered in his ear. 

They didn’t speak for the rest of the night, simply holding each other until the sun rose in the morning. They each knew there were still difficult discussions to have and problems to address. But for the moment, they simply enjoyed the feeling of being in one anothers’ arms.


End file.
